The pet listens on a local Unix socket — no TCP port, no server. Three operations: say, state, ask. Plain text, 280 characters, 5 bubbles a minute per source, asks one at a time, and a signed receipt for every knock.
The approval relay and session watching are native: open Kobun, click Connect Claude Code (first-run bubble or tray menu). It edits your hook settings with a timestamped backup and a byte-identical revert.
To give Claude the pet's tools as well:
$ claude mcp add kobun -- kobun mcp
# tools: say · ask · set_state · reminders · pomodoro · note
kobun ask blocks until you click, then exits with the answer — so a deploy script can put a human in the loop with one line.
if kobun ask "Deploy to prod?" --timeout-s 120; then
./deploy.sh && kobun state done --detail "deployed"
else
kobun say "deploy skipped"
fi
# exit codes: 0 yes · 1 no · 2 timeout · 3 Kobun not running
When Kobun isn't running, every verb exits 3 within 200 ms — your script never hangs on a pet that isn't there.
kobun mcp is a stdio MCP server. Point any client at it — the setup for Claude Code is the one-liner above; for other clients, register the command kobun mcp the way that client registers stdio servers.
say put a line in the pet's bubble ask yes/no question, waits for the click set_state working · waiting · done · error · idle reminder_* / pomodoro_* / note_* the pet's errands
Codex fires its external notify hook on turn completion, so the pet can show done / waiting for you. Codex does not expose approval prompts to external hooks today (openai/codex#11808 — closed with approval events promised via their event-hooks work, which we have not verified as shipped), so approvals stay in the Codex terminal.
notify = ["/Applications/Kobun.app/Contents/MacOS/kobun-hook", "codex-notify"]
Cursor and Gemini CLI both have hook surfaces we haven't verified against their current docs — we'd rather say that than publish a recipe we haven't watched work. If you wire one up with kobun say / kobun ask, send it: recipes@kobun.xyz.